Joe Arpaio waiting for Donald Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, during a campaign event in Phoenix.

source

Thomson Reuters

On Monday, former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio filed a
defamation suit against several media companies he alleges
falsely referred to him as a "convicted felon."

He is requesting punitive damages in excess of $300 million.

In October, Arpaio filed a suit against The New York Times
for an opinion article that called him a "truly sadistic man."

Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff whom President Donald
Trump pardoned last year, has filed a defamation suit against
CNN, HuffPost, and Rolling Stone, saying the news organizations
"published false and defamatory statements" about him.

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Arpaio was convicted of contempt of court in 2016 for violating
the terms of a 2011 court order in a racial-profiling case. The
order barred Arpaio from holding people he believed were in the
country illegally. Trump issued his first presidential pardon
before Arpaio was sentenced.

Arpaio's lawsuit names not only the media organizations as
plaintiffs but also the reporters Chris Cuomo, Kevin Robillard,
and Tessa Stuart as well as CNN's president, Jeff Zucker. In it,
Arpaio cites several instances in which the three news
organizations called him a "convicted felon" or an "ex-felon" or
said he had been sent to prison. Because of Trump's pardon,
Arpaio has never been convicted of a felony.

The lawsuit alleges that because of these statements, Arpaio's
"distinguished 55-year law enforcement and political career has
been severely harmed, as his reputation has been severely damaged
among and with the Republican establishment." This, Arpaio
argued, hurts his 2020 run for Senate. He is seeking $300.5
million in damages, as well as attorney fees.

This is not Arpaio's first lawsuit against a major news
organization. In October, the former sheriff filed a libel suit
against The New York Times for an August 2017 opinion article
that called him a "truly sadistic man." In that suit, Arpaio
alleges that the writer Michelle Cottle cast him in a "negative,
false" light. He sought $147.5 million in damages.